- Aston Villa are one of seven Premier League clubs interested in Hearts teenager Alfie Osborne
- They are currently said to not be leading the race
- A compensation package of less than £250,000 would be enough to sign the youngster
Aston Villa continue their pursuit of young, talented academy players by targeting Hearts teenager Alfie Osborne. The 17-year-old has a host of English clubs tracking his progress and a departure in the summer is looking likely.
According to TEAMTalk, Arsenal and Manchester City are, for the moment, leading the race for his signature. The two teams reportedly sent representatives to watch the defender in action for Scotland U-19s against Italy at Airdrie’s Albert Bartlett Stadium on the 25th March.
Villa, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Sunderland and Fulham are also monitoring the situation.
Hearts are desperate to hold on to him. The Scottish side offered him a new long-term contract; however, Osborne is said not to be planning on extending his stay at Tynecastle Park.
Due to the regulations, if an academy player in Scotland moves to an English club, then that team must pay training compensation to the Scottish club. The figure for Osborne is understood to be less than £250,000, which looks to be a steal.
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The 6ft 4in academy player has recently transitioned from central midfield into centre-back. He currently captains Heart’s B side and has played 31 times this season, scoring one goal.
His performances have attracted a lot of interest, with his composure, positional awareness and technical quality on the ball the standout traits of his game.
Villa’s raiding of Scottish talent
Villa’s interest in Osborne makes him the latest player within the last few years that the Midlands club has targeted in the Scottish market for top-tier youth prospects.
The most recent was Fletcher Boyd, who joined from Aberdeen last year. Ewan Simpson, Aidan Borland, Kerr Smith and Rory Wilson are the other youngsters that the Villans have swooped up from Scotland.
All of these players have made significant impacts for Villa’s respective academy sides, and a few of them may make inroads into the first team.
The signing of Osborne would be another coup by the recruitment team. Building the academy up with players who are extremely talented enables Villa to have a constantly evolving squad. It also allows them to make large profits on them should they decide to sell them, if they think they don’t have a future at the club.
